Who is the dark lady in Shakespeare's sonnets?

We do not know exactly who the Dark Lady is. We know that she is the mistress of the narrator. We know she has dark hair and pale skin. We know she is not entirely attainable.

The first section of the sonnets describes a spiritual connection between the narrator and the Fair Youth and this is contrasted with the sexual furstration that surrounds the Dark Lady. We know that she is not only a desired object for the narrator but also that she commonly rejects him.

Some scholars have sought to parallel her with real historical figures such as Mary Fitton, a noble woman who had a relationship with a possible real life Fair Youth, or Emilia Lanier, one of the first female English poets.